Province bolsters risk management

Federation of Agriculture calls on federal government to better fund AgriStability, AgriInsurance

P.E.I. has announced changes to two key risk management programs as a means to provide protection for farmers impacted by economic shocks caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Agriculture Minister Bloyce Thompson announced tweaks to the province’s AgriStability and AgriInsurance programs last Thursday.

The two programs are key risk management programs for agricultural producers.

Over the next two years, the province will pay the provincial portion of the cost to increase coverage levels from 70 per cent to 85 per cent.

Interim payments will also increase to 75 per cent from 50 per cent, and the province will pay the provincial portion of removing the reference margin limit for the livestock industry.

Thompson also announced the province will offer a 10 per cent discount on producer premiums for the AgriInsurance program.

"We know we need to get the money into the producers' hands. Quickly. And this will help," Thompson said during a media briefing on Thursday.

"I'm encouraging all producers to look into P.E.I.'s business risk management programs."

The deadline to enrol for the 2020 AgriStability Program Year has also been extended to July 3, 2020.

Together the changes will cost the province $8.8 million.

About one third of P.E.I.’s exports are related to food, Thompson said.

Thompson also announced funding of $4.7 million in provincial funding to the P.E.I. Potato Board to help ship and store a surplus of potatoes from the 2019 season.

Thompson said 100,000 pounds of potatoes from the 2019 year remain, partly due to the closure of restaurants locally and throughout North America.

Thompson added the changes to the AgriStability and AgriInsurance programs are provincial initiatives.

The province has reached out to the federal department of Agriculture and Agrifood.

"We are waiting for their support on the business risk management programs. We decided to do it ourselves on Prince Edward Island," Thompson said.

"We're the first province to do it across Canada. We're waiting for the federal government to step in."

A media statement issued by the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture called for further supports from Ottawa.

“Managing risk has been at the forefront of our discussions with both levels of government for a number of years. It is time for Ottawa to recognize the leadership the P.E.I. government has taken and put forward their share of these dollars,” PEIFA president Ron Maynard was quoted as saying in the statement.

AgriStability coverage is triggered when a farmer’s margin falls below 70 per cent of average income. Prior to 2013, this was triggered when a farmer’s margin fell below 85 per cent.

The federal government cut AgriStability funding in half in that year, a move that has been heavily criticized by farming organizations ever since.

Prior to the pandemic, the PEIFA had pressed federal Agriculture Minister MarieClaude Bibeau to restore funding to risk management programs like AgriStability to pre-2013 levels.

“As a cost shared program between Ottawa and P.E.I., this announcement has seen P.E.I. step forward with their share of the costs while Ottawa has not yet seen the importance of maintaining a vibrant farm sector,” the PEIFA release said.